Porsche announced Friday that it has renewed its factory GTE-Pro program for next year’s FIA World Endurance Championship. (Photo: John Dagys)

Porsche announced Friday that it has renewed its factory GTE-Pro program for next year’s FIA World Endurance Championship.

The German manufacturer, which scored a 1-2 finish in the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year, will continue under the Porsche AG Team Manthey banner in a separate program from its new works LMP1 squad that will also take on the WEC in 2014.

The first four-and-a-half hours of Saturday’s Six Hours of Shanghai saw a commanding performance from Toyota. Yet when the checkered flag flew on the on penultimate round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, it was Audi reigning supreme.

Benoit Treluyer, Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler combined for victory, their third of the season, while a third place finish for teammates Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Loic Duval was enough for the trio to clinch the 2013 Drivers’ World Championship.

What looked to be a sure-fire win for Toyota, which ran 1-2 for much of the race, began to unravel in the fifth hour. Anthony Davidson was forced to retire his No. 8 TS030 Hybrid from the lead with suspension failure.

Rebellion Racing became the final overall winners in American Le Mans Series competition, when Neel Jani, Nicolas Prost and Nick Heidfeld took their Lola B12/60 Toyota to victory in last weekend’s Petit Le Mans, the team’s second-consecutive win in the 1,000-mile/10-hour enduro.

While it marked the end of an era for North American sports car racing, it also signaled the completion of the Anglo-Swiss squad’s successful LMP1 venture with Lola, as it gears up for a new chapter in the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship with a pair of ORECA-built, Toyota-powered Rebellion R-One prototypes.

FOX Sports’ SPEED Blog caught up with team manager Bart Hayden to get an update on the development of the new car, as well as Rebellion’s ambitions for a return to the States on a full-time basis.

Mother Nature got the best of Sunday’s Six Hours of Fuji. (Photo: DPPI/WEC)

Toyota has claimed its first FIA World Endurance Championship victory of the season, albeit under extreme circumstances, following a rain-shortened Six Hours of Fuji.

The No. 7 Toyota TS030 Hybrid of Kaz Nakajima, Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre were declared winners Sunday in Japan, as the race was cut short after only 16 completed laps, all under the safety car, due to torrential rains and low visibility.